A great feature about the Labrynthos Academy App is the practice feature. Everyday they provide a question and a card (and that’s it!) for you to interpret entirely on your own for your eager, adorable friend Doppleganger. Just like a real reading with a real friend would go. Its an excellent way to get to know the cards but an even better way to start growing and trusting your intuition.
Everyday I do a single-card reading for myself to help familiarize myself with the deck and the meaning of all of the cards and apply those cards directly to my life. As suggested by the Wild Unknown Tarot guidebook, I generally ask what I should focus on on that day while shuffling for a couple of minutes. Sometimes, I ask something more direct for that given day. I tend to use the Golden Thread Tarot App to help me keep track of the cards I pull, how I felt about them and to get more meanings – its a great tool!
I had ordered my deck before I knew anything about Tarot. I thought that I would pull a few cards from the deck and the provided guidebook would tell me everything I need to know about myself and my future. A fun game I would be able to play immediately.
I was so wrong.
I was excited about the gorgeous, hand-drawn deck I had bought and showed some friends I thought would be interested in it while the deck was on its way and asked if they would be willing to try it out with me. Thankfully, one of my friends knew more than I and had had a reading from another friend recently. She recommended a couple apps for me to learn and practice with, and I immediately downloaded them and realized I was a bit in over my head. The epitome of The Fool.
Wands, cups, swords, and pentacles, Major and Minor Arcana, Upright and Reversed meanings, and Oh – I have to rely on my intuition and the guidebook wont do the readings for me? Damn.
So the journey was going to take a bit more effort than I originally thought, but if you’re reading this then I guess you know that I was okay with that. It was exciting. I am that rare type of person that genuinely loves learning and I discovered a whole vast new world waiting to be explored.
So, with that – I finished all of the “lessons” for the card’s upright meanings in the Labrynthos Academy App several times over by the end of the day (level 6 witch spellcaster here!) – the day my deck arrived.
It was late by the time I was able to sit down with the deck and take the time to unbox and admire it properly. This particular deck comes with a nice keepsake box, a guidebook and a lift top box for the deck with lift ribbons. I was glad to have had at least a days worth of new knowledge under my belt before I met the deck, I was grateful for all of it in a way I wouldn’t have been otherwise even a day earlier.
Since it was late on a Wednesday Evening (i’m a nine-to-fiver and my bed time is 10pm), and I wanted to get antiquated with the cards but was not quite ready for any type of Spread Reading, I shuffled the cards while focusing on the idea that I would like the cards to show me myself, a card that could represent me. After a long while of overhand shuffling and cutting the deck, I pulled the top card and there it was:
The Daughter of Swords.
I should explain that traditionally, this would be the Page of Swords. My deck replaces Page, Knight, King and Queen with more familiar familial words – Daughter, Son, Father and Mother. So from my guidebook I read:
“daughter of swords – honest, insightful. The Daughter of Swords is a young woman whose honesty and insights take her far in life. People truly value her frankness. She learns from keen observation… it almost seems as though she never stops “watching”. Sometimes this becomes a burden for her, as she can’t help noticing this or that small detail that could’ve been done better. There’s potential for her to hold on to those experiences and become spiteful and judgmental.”
I immediately connected with this card, it was almost like it was written directly for me and felt compelled to thank my deck. Naturally, I looked further into what this card could mean for me. From the Golden Thread App:
“Page of Swords. Curiosity, Restlessness, Mental Energy.
Swords: Logic, Ideas, Intellect.
Pages: The Child. The New Spark. The holder of energy for his suit.
The Page of swords represents someone embarking on a new idea and a mental adventure. Full of enthusiasm and good cheer, this person is eager to share and discuss their thoughts and plans for what can be.”
I could not think of a better way to word how I felt about starting this new adventure into Tarot, it was summed up perfectly with this card and solidified my excitement for the future.
On this day, I was going to have dinner with a friend that I had a major falling out with. This was my best friend of 14 years, whom at one point of this falling out I thought I was never going to speak to or see again. However, she had apologized to me and I had resolved to speak to her but there was still a lot of muddiness and resentment. It was not the same. As I pulled my daily card on this day, I was asking the cards what I should focus on for the day, but I was really focusing my thoughts and energy on the latter part of the day, the dinner that was to come. I was very nervous on what was going to happen and the outcome of it.
This card gave me a lot of hope and guidance. The first word I saw in relation to it – forgiveness. And so many other aspects – seeking truth. No more blaming, no excuses. Forgiveness, personal freedom. Let pettiness and fear fall below you. It was all perfect to the situation, and I took the card’s advice. If at any time I didn’t know what to say or do the card and its meaning came to mind and I felt guided. The conversation was not an easy one. We were both very honest, it was emotional, we got everything out there and dealt with everything that had to be dealt with. And in the end, it really did feel like a rebirth. I felt so relieved and free, and weightless.
My Answer:
Immediately I get the imagery of the snake, I feel deception. After reading the guidebook, and trying to apply it to my question, wondering what I should be focusing on – I ask myself if I should be the snake, this white knight. If I am meant to be charming, the one that says all the right things. I focus on this for a while, but it doesn’t sit right. At some point during the day a thought comes to me, is my friend the snake? A particular one comes to mind. What are the cards trying to tell me, should I be the proverbial snake charmer, should I avoid the snake or just be wary of its illusions? I don’t let this consume me but allow it to stay in the back of my mind.
On this day, I wanted to try a three card spread and rather than ask my typical “What Should I Focus On Today?” daily question, I searched through the internet for direction an questions for a three card spread for myself and came across this question on BiddyTarot. I decided against the three card spread, I was not confident that I would not be more confused than directed. But I did take the question for a single card reading.
On this particular day before the reading my boyfriend and I were not on the same page and we were arguing over everything. I was having those feelings the card describes, a sense of being trapped, helpless and all around negative. Though there is one major part of the card that I could not ignore. If the cards were trying to tell me anything, this was it.
Self-victimization. I cause some of my own problems, I can be dramatic, tend not to let the small things go, and get frustrated easily. Im not always the easiest person to get along with. I had to remind myself of all of this and bring the swords down. Cease the fighting and open myself to love and forgiveness. I accepted this, and it turned everything around.
For my first three card spread, I wanted something relatively straight forward. This spread was also perfect as I am just starting to learn about Tarot and spending much more of my time and energies into learning about the spiritual and metaphysical. This was something of a snapshot for myself of my current state at the beginning of my journey that I can repeat throughout time as I make progress.
I didn’t take a very long time on trying to interpret these yet as it is very early on and I am just starting to get to know these cards, but I do have a takeaway for what I think each one means for me on these three aspects of my life.
I believe the VIII of Swords may be telling me that my own mind holds me back. I almost picture the butterfly as myself, but at the same time it is me holding those swords to it, keeping it still and calcified. My own mind begs for freedom and nurturing, and I often work it too hard and then don’t properly care for it.
For the body, I struggle with the scope. Is this my physical body or the physical realm? I decided to lean more towards the physical body this time, since I am finally starting to feel better from an 8 month long recovery of a patellar dislocation. I find myself wanting to push myself, to work out, to try to run, to dance. I have an opportunity to start free Salsa lessons, and I will sign myself up for this as the card suggests, “You have come as far as you can on your own and must deepen your practice. Don’t hesitate to join a class, go to a workshop, have new experiences”.
The Spirit. I feel very connected to this card and feel it does represent my spiritual journey. I feel as though I am on the right path, that I know my place in the universe and I have no intentions in slowing down.
Like my previous interpretation, I start by declaring the meanings of the pentacles and the tens. I then wrote whatever felt right to me for the interpretation:
The pentacles are a suit of worldliness, they represent our home, money and careers. Earthly and material, even sensual matters. While the tens represent finality and completion. I believe this card is telling you that what you want most is to leave behind a meaningful legacy, whether that be for people to remember you fondly, or for you to achieve many great feats in your lifetime that you can be proud of, or to have smaller, more private accomplishments and healthy inheritance to leave behind for your children or family when your time on earth has passed. Whatever it may be, what you want most is to make a positive lasting mark on the world.
As my first daily reading, I didn’t do much of my own interpretation. I just tried to soak in and understand all of the meanings and interpretations that were given to me. I will say that the imagery with the large, fluffy feathers neatly containing each pentacle with bright warm colors was immediately comforting and I knew it was going to be a positive card, before I went to work looking everything up and storing it in my mind for the day.
After reading it all and taking it in, I applied it to my day. I am a very hard worker – I constantly step up in every area of my life. If I see something that can be improved I do not wait around for someone to do it, I go make it better. I am a leader, and I accomplish a great deal in my career and life overall. I also don’t often rest – or enjoy the fruits of that labor. I save rather than spend, I stay in rather than go out, and I always keep my nose to the grindstone to keep myself ahead.
On this day however, I took the card’s advice. I focused on not worrying so much about working the fastest and doing the most, I loosened up a bit. I didn’t worry about how much I spent, or when I was going to be in bed to be up the next day to do god knows what – I gave myself a little break, let myself realize and celebrate my own accomplishments. And my day was better for it.
My first attempt at reading a card at all, let alone relating it to a specific question. I went solely with the correlations of what Wands and Pages represent and wrote whatever I felt it meant to me at the time:
Wands represent creativity and passion in our physical world, while the page represents exploration, freedom and excitement. You may need a new perspective on the creative aspect of your life. You may feel like art and the freedom to explore is limited in your life right now. You need to be able to explore your passions and you want to see the tangible outcome. You may need a change in some aspect of your life in which you feel the artistic side of you is lacking and itching to break free.
Daughter of Swords 